An original work by the artist Banksy has beenrecovered by police investigating a suspected fraud.The piece,called Wrong War, and a print signed by the graffiti artist were bought by acustomer in south London for £12,990 last month.
But two weeksafter delivering them, the dealer who sold the works learned that the cardsused to buy the pieces had been used without authorisation.
Police arresteda man in Plumstead, south London, on 8 February.
The man, 25,has been bailed pending further inquiries.
The suspectedfraud came to light when the art dealer, from Essex, received bank lettersstating that the cards used to buy the images did not have the authorisation ofthe cardholders.
Both paymentswere cancelled and refunded to the cardholders, leaving the dealer without theartworks and out of pocket.
'Acted quickly'
TheMetropolitan Police began an investigation when, in the meantime, the suspectcontacted the art dealer again in an effort to buy more Banksy artwork.
Officers wereinformed about this order and made the arrest. They also searched an address inCharlton, south-east London, believed to be linked to the suspect, where theyrecovered Wrong War.
The signedprint, entitled No Ball Games, was recovered after a member of the publicbought it from the suspect and became suspicious of the transaction, policesaid.
The buyercontacted the Essex art gallery directly and returned the artwork.
Det Sgt GeoffGrogan, from Greenwich CID, said: "We acted very quickly after the victimcontacted us and this gave us the opportunity not only to make an arrest, butalso to recover the artworks.
"Webelieve that there may be more than one person involved.
"We arealso in the process of contacting the card-holders who were unaware that theircards were being used.
"Ourinvestigation is still open and will continue."
Source: BBC
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